Author's Note: Man, this chapter took so long to write! I don't even know why. I knew how the beginning was going to start, but maybe the campfire kind of was a writer's block thing on me. So, this chapter is a little shorter than usual. Oh! This is where Amitola's and Lynn's godly parent is revealed! Hurray! We took these quizzes online as to who our godly parents were. Amitola's was Iris, but we couldn't think of any "powers" for Iris, so we stuck with the second godly parent she got, which is something that will be revealed later in this chapter! You might be surprised by what godly parent I'll get; I was pretty surprised myself when I got the quiz results. Woohoo! I write such super long chapters now. My chapters are usually like 1,000 words or something; now they're 3,000. Maybe it's because my friend (the other author of this fanfic, Loki) is supporting me so much! Anyway, happy reading! And, sorry for all the errors as always. Adios!
Chapter Three
"Amitola! Wait!" Percy called, trying to catch up to them.
"Stop running for a second!" Jason yelled, sprinting across the camp for them.
"I'll get the Argo II!" Leo informed the others.
"Is the Argo II really necessary in catching two girls?!" Annabeth retorted loudly.
"Look at them! Is it me or has Loki been jogging with Olympians?!" Leo yelled back.
"Olympians as in Greek and Roman Olympians or as in the Olympics?!" Percy yelled over his shoulder.
Leo rolled his eyes. "Yes, Loki has been running with Ares and Hera! Of course the Olympics!"
"Well, excuse me!" Percy huffed.
"We do not have time for this!" Annabeth reminded everyone. "We have some soon-to-be-lost demigods to catch!"
"I don't even understand as to why Amitola ran off without knowing where to go!" Jason complained.
"And Nico just ditched us!" Leo wailed, scanning the area one more time for the Ghost King. "That emotionless traitor!"
"Does she run off like that all the time?!" Jason asked, raising his voice so that all the frantic heroes around could hear him.
"I bet you anything she does!" Leo answered. "The Gods do that to us all the time!"
"I thought you said we were talking about the Olympic Olympians!" Percy yelled.
"We were!"
"Then why are you mentioning the Gods?!"
"It just seemed like the time!"
They continued briskly sprinting, trying to catch up to the two overly-excited girls. Well, only Amitola was excited.
"I see why the Sphinxes couldn't catch up to them earlier today!" Leo panted. "I bet you guys Festus' head that she's Florence Griffith-Joyner in disguise!"
"Where is Amitola running off to anyway?!" Jason wondered.
"Having some horse legs like Chiron right now would really be useful!" Leo mentioned.
"Guys! Less yapping more running!" Annabeth scolded. "And, Jason, we'll find out once we catch them!"
They frantically sprinted across Camp Half-Blood in the pitch black darkness of the night. Amitola and Lynn were barely in their line of vision. They were so far out they wouldn't be able to hear the heroes yelling and calling out their names. Amitola looked as if she didn't have an exact destination as to where she was going. The other campers stared with a puzzled look on their faces. It looked as if Amitola and Lynn were playing tag, and Annabeth, Percy, Jason, and Leo were "it."
Finally something abruptly stopped the two girls, and the heroes were very relieved. They stopped behind Amitola and Lynn, panting and trying to catch their breaths. Their chests heaved with every breath they took, trying to suck in as much oxygen as they could, and exhaled a large amount of carbon dioxide. They all looked up to find the "emotionless traitor" Nico.
"Nico?!" Leo screeched. "Where have you been?!"
"Trying to find the right moment to shadow-travel in front of them to stop them," Nico answered flatly.
"Oh," Leo simply replied.
"It is the right time to shadow-travel anyway." Nico gestured at all the darkness around them.
"I probably should've guessed that Nico wouldn't have ditched us." Percy nervously smiled. "Sorry, Neeks."
"Do not call me that," Nico snapped as Percy chuckled, despite how haggard he was.
"Woo! That was fun!" Amitola breathlessly called into the night air.
"Fun?!" Annabeth gave them a look that read: Are you crazy?!
"Well, we should get to the campfire now. It's probably started already," Jason quickly put in.
All the demigods nodded as they wearily trudged over to the campfire. It was about 9:10 at night, and they could see the campfire's light radiating from their location. All the campers were lightheartedly singing along to the Apollo campers' lead. It echoed all around the camp, sending warm, pleasing messages all around. Some campers had their arms swung around the shoulders of their friends. Some swayed back and forth to the beat of the singing. Others that chose not to participate in the singing sat there with grins across their faces.
The campfire was an astounding twenty feet—which meant that everyone was in high, jolly moods tonight. The campfire glowed the color of golden, and its shadow swayed back and forth on the camp grounds. Benches were set up all around the campfire, which the campers occupied. A sea of orange could be seen surrounding the campfire, which came from everyone's Camp Half-Blood T-shirts. How weird was it that Jason was the only one with a purple shirt. Amitola and Lynn didn't even receive their camp T-shirts.
A girl around Percy's, Annabeth's, Jason's, and Leo's age came bounding up to them. She had chocolate brown hair that was cut unevenly around her shoulders. A part of her hair out in the front was braided with a white feather at the end. She wore a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, and blue denim shorts that went down until it was above her knees. She wore orange Converse, and there was a celestial bronze dagger strapped to her hip. It looked as if she attempted to make herself look unnoticeable, but instead she looked stunningly beautiful.
"Hi, guys!" She greeted as she hugged Jason.
"Hey, Piper," Percy and Annabeth greeted. Nico only nodded at the back of the group.
"Hey, beauty queen." Leo smirked. "How goes thy love life with thy one by thy name of Jason?"
"Um, great…thanks?" Piper awkwardly responded with a weird look on her face. "Who are these guys?"
"Right." Jason stepped aside for Amitola and Lynn. "This is Amitola and Lynn."
"Hello." Lynn awkwardly smiled.
"It's Loki," Amitola corrected. "And beauty queen." Amitola laughed. "Nice one, Leo."
"Why, thank you." Leo smirked. Piper rolled her eyes.
"Are you guys new here or something?" Piper tilted her head to the side. "I don't recall ever seeing you guys around here."
"Yeah, we're new," Lynn answered, shuffling uncomfortably around all the company.
"Why is the fire so big?!" Amitola incredulously asked as she chronically stared the fire up and down with an astounded look across her face.
"Well my ever beloved lady, the fire is so big and hot today is because Leo Valdez has made his appearance."
"Yeah okay, Leo," Piper cast him a sideways glance, still tangled in Jason's arms.
They went over to some open benches and took a seat, while Amitola ridiculously sang along with the other campers, trying to encourage Lynn to join her, who had continuously refused. Percy, Leo, Jason, Piper, and Annabeth joined along with Amitola. Nico sat at the end, getting sucked into his own thoughts, tuning out everyone's singing.
The singing eventually died away when there were about fifteen minutes left until curfew. Percy, Annabeth, and Piper offered to show Amitola and Lynn the Hermes cabin, since they haven't gotten claimed yet. Piper wanted to get to know Amitola and Lynn more, since she was not with the others the whole day.
"Are you a daughter of Aphrodite?" Lynn asked Piper when their conversation died away.
"Yeah, how'd you now?" Piper smiled and tilted her head to the side.
"Anyone can tell, Pipes," Leo informed. "Have you heard of a mirror?"
"Yes, I've heard of a mirror." Piper rolled her eyes.
"Have you ever used one? Because you seem to not realize your looks, not like you can be as hot as Leo Valdez. Man, that guy is flamin'. He's so hot his hair can catch on fire!" At that moment Leo made his hair catch on fire, which made everyone back away by two steps.
"Little warning next time." Jason chuckled.
"Woah!" Amitola stared. "Is there going to be another campfire?! C-A-M-"
"No," Lynn interrupted Amitola's singing again, who pouted and slouched in her seat on the bench. Piper laughed at the affair.
"You guys have such a nice friendship," Piper commented.
"I couldn't tell if that was sarcastic or not," Lynn replied.
Piper chuckled. "It wasn't meant to be sarcastic."
"Now you know how I feel when you use your sarcasm on me!" Amitola stuck her tongue out at Lynn, who laughed.
Everyone's eyes soon became wide and the conversations went dead silent. The crickets could be heard, chirping rapidly in the tranquil air. The fire crackled as it burned on the wood, and it swayed high in the air. But, the fire seemed to be shrinking now that everyone's emotions had rapidly changed. Annabeth had explained to them that the fire changes in height and color depending on the campers' moods.
"Why did it just go quiet all of a sudden?" Amitola stared at everyone, who was staring back at her; specifically, the air above her head. "I feel so self-conscience! Stop! Look away!" Amitola shielded away her eyes with her hands. "I can't see you if you can't see me!" She started laughing. "Oh my Buddha I sound like John Cena. Is it the perfect time to say the movie title: Now You See Me Now You Don't? Ooh! I love that movie!" Her voice was muffled a bit by her palms.
"She can really keep up conversations with herself," Annabeth broke the tension hanging in the air.
"She does that all the time," Lynn agreed. "And is that…her godly parent's insignia?"
Amitola peeked between her fingers. "What?! Where?! What is it?!" Amitola started jerking her head around, trying to look up. But, the sign moved with the movement of her head, so she wasn't able to see the symbol. A golden lyre could be seen projected in the air above her.
"You're…" Percy trailed off.
Jason exhaled. "Apollo's daughter."
Amitola unmasked her face and tilted her head to the side in confusion. "…Apollo?"
A guy around the others' age stepped up to him. He was about six feet tall and he had deep blue eyes. He had blonde hair and he wore an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt like all the other campers that were staring in shock. He wore dark blue jeans and casual black Vans. He smiled and held his hand out to Amitola.
"I'm guessing you're new, eh? I'm Will Solace, the head counselor of the Apollo cabin." He turned towards Leo, hand still held out to Amitola. "Hey, Vulcan."
"I am not Vulcan!" Leo nearly yelled.
"VULCAN!" Amitola shrieked again, jumping out of her seat and pointing at Leo. "'Your ship is compromised, too close to the singularity to survive without assistance, which we are willing to provide. Captain, what are you doing? Showing them compassion may be the only way to earn peace with—'"
"Stop. With. The. Quotes," Lynn interrupted.
"'We must gather the rest of the Starfleet…to balance the terms of the next engagement!'"
"Didn't I say—"
"Sh-h, Child."
Lynn rolled her eyes in response, and rested her head in her hand.
Amitola took Will's hand and they shook. Will gave a friendly smile to Amitola, who seemed to be overwhelmed by the fact that this was the Will that mentioned the word: "Vulcan."
"I guess we have no need to show you the Hermes cabin, since you have just been claimed." Annabeth sheepishly smiled. "I guess it's just—"
Annabeth was cut short as she realized what was above Lynn's head. Everyone's eyes suddenly became larger, and Lynn's eyes became more quizzical. She narrowed her eyes at the heroes around her. Even Nico—the son of Hades—seemed to be surprised.
"Nico's surprised?!" Amitola exclaimed. "Lynn's parent has suddenly become serious."
"What the—Nico!" Leo whipped his head around at Nico, who was pretty much blending in with the campfire's shadow. "You did not mention that Lynn was your sister!"
Nico stared in astonishment at Lynn, and back at the insignia—a helmet—above her head. "I did tell you that I sensed a strong aura coming off of her. That's why I was staring at her so intently when I saw her."
"Oh," Leo flatly replied.
"This explains why there were so many monsters chasing after them." Jason suddenly realized. "They sensed one of the Big Three's children. They sensed Pluto—Hades'—child."
"And, that's pretty rare, considering that it's Hades," Percy added.
"Who knew Hades had another child," Piper mumbled.
"Hades?!" Amitola exclaimed. "You're Emo?!"
Lynn's tense mood suddenly turned into amusement as she burst out laughing. "I am not Emo for your information."
"Yeah, you should meet Nico's other sister, Hazel," Jason put in.
"Wait, does that mean I have three siblings now?!" Lynn stared at Jason in astonishment.
"Four, if you count Hazel. But, she's Roman, so she's the daughter of Pluto," Jason corrected.
"Wait, does that mean that your siblings are demigods too?" Piper asked.
"Most likely," Annabeth answered.
The symbols above Amitola's and Lynn's head eventually faded away into the blackness of the night. Everyone was still in mental shock after the sudden claim of the two new demigods.
"Well," Annabeth started. "It's curfew now. We should all be heading back to our cabins."
Everyone slowly stood from the benches, and it looked like they had to force themselves to move their legs towards their cabins, like their legs were sleeping or something. Some probably were, though.
"I'll show you where the Apollo cabin is," Will offered to Amitola, and they went off towards cabin seven.
"I'll show you where the Hades cabin is then," Nico directed at Lynn, who nodded.
"You don't really strike me as the Hades type, Lynn" Jason said.
Lynn shrugged. "Well, now that I actually think about it, I do prefer the dark than the light. I also don't like to be around a whole lot of people. It just makes me uncomfortable, I guess. In fact, I hate people. And I hold a lot of grudges on people."
"That does explain it." Percy nodded.
And everyone else went off to a deep slumber in their cabins.